Regal Masters and Wolf Warriors share spoils

WHEN the curtain was drawn on the Rafman Ali-organised softball tournament last Sunday, Regal Masters and Wolf Warriors were the two victorious sides in the Masters T20 and Open 15/15 categories, having defeated Parika Defenders and Regal XI at the Better Hope ground.

Batting first against Parika Defenders in the first final of the day’s double-header, Regal Masters, on the back of 52 from Eric Thomas and 38 from Tony Amerally, piled up 146 for 8 off their 20 overs, before bowling out Parika Defenders for 74 to win by a whopping 72 runs.
In the second final Regal XI invited their nemesis Wolf Warriors to take first strike, following which the West Demerara-based side scored what turned out to be a match-winning 146, thanks to 49 from Safraz Karim and 43 from Azad Azeez.
In reply, Regal XI never got going and, despite a resilient 46 from Patrick Rooplall, were limited to 105 for 8 when their overs expired, handing Wolf Warriors the victory by 41 runs and the $100 000 top prize, while they got an additional $50 000 from Shahab Hack.
Regal XI must have fancied their chances of emulating their Masters, when Pritvi Motilall (1 for 15) bowled the dangerous Ricardo Adams (0) off the first delivery of the Open final which was a 15-overs-a-side contest.
However, Karim who struck five sixes and two fours in his 49 and Azeez, who had five sixes in his innings, added 94 for the second wicket from seven overs, before Troy Kippins, who had earlier played in the Masters final, engineered a Wolf Warriors’ collapse by taking 3 for 32.
The eventual winners were bowled out for their final total off the last delivery of their innings, even though skipper Amit Jairam offered support to Azeez and Karim with his 25, as his side lost their remaining nine wickets for 52 runs from eight overs.
In their turn at the wicket, Regal XI were never allowed to get on top of the bowling by Wolf Warriors, as only Ricky Sargeant, 12, showed any support to Rooplall, whose 46 was decorated with five sixes, as the bowling of Diaram Persaud (2 for 15) and Khemraj Ramsundar (2 for 17) kept things in check, while there was a wicket each for Narine Bailey, Salim Mohammed and Asad Zaman.
In the Masters category, Thomas struck six sixes and two fours in his 52, while Amerally had three fours in his 38 and Mahendra Arjune one six and one four in his 16 that guided Regal Masters to their final total.
MRK Saffie took 3 for 25, S. Ali 2 for 21 and D. Kajuman 2 for 35 for Parika Defenders, whose batting was smuggled by Regal Masters’ bowling line-up that was led by Peter Persaud (3 for 15), who got ample support from Mahendra Hardyal (2 for 16) and Satro Seeraj 2 for 23 and were bowled out for 74 off 18.5 overs.
Extras topscored with 26, inclusive of 22 wides while R. Racoom led the way for the batsmen with his painstaking 14 that included one six, as Regal Masters romped away with the title.
At the presentation ceremony that followed, Thomas won the Best Batsman award for the Masters category, with Karim doing so for the Open category while Persaud was named Best Bowler (Masters) and Kippins same for the Open.
Seeraj, who was involved in seven of the 10 dismissals when Parika Defenders batted, was named the Man-of-the-Match for the Masters category, while Karim and Azeez shared that award for the Open category.
Apart from their trophies, Regal Masters walked away with $75 000 while Parika Defenders got $50 000 and in the Open category, Regal XI received $50 000 and a trophy s their runner-up spoils.

(By Calvin Roberts)